Presidents Wearing World Cup Final Jerseys: What Would Donald Trump Do?

Earnest in Empathy: Croatia President Kolinda Garbar-Kitarovic consoles player of the tournament Luka Modric after the World Cup Final (Photo: Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Nelson Mandela famously united a nation by doing it at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.

Donald Trump would no doubt follow suit if the U.S ever reached the final of a truly global mass spectator team sport competition.

Now Croatia president Kolinda Garbar-Kitarovic has achieved global fame by donning the jersey of her national soccer team at the World Cup Final in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, bathing in reflected glory from his country’s successful hosting of the contest, and France’s Emmanuel Macron, there for the predicted French victory a day after the July 14 celebrations, opted for business suits.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacts during the Russia 2018 World Cup final football match between France and Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July 15, 2018. (ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP/Getty Images)

But there was Garbar-Kitarovic, adorned in her nation’s sporting red and white, on the podium, vigorously hugging each of her nation’s plucky losers in a manner that some Twitter wags compared to the actions of an embarrassing mother-in-law.

Putting Croatia on the Map

It was a show that had Britain’s tabloids running “Ten things you don’t know about Croatia’s President” features and digging out images of Garbar-Kitarovic traveling economy class to one of the games, posing for pictures with ordinary travelers.

Croatia is a tiny nation of 4 million people that has over-achieved at a major sporting event and Garbar-Kitarovic’s unbridled joy, pride and patriotism will win her many followers.

It is hard, after all, to see Britain’s beleaguered Prime Minister Theresa May donning anything other than business attire and offering Harry Kane much more than a tepid handshake if England’s 52 years of Jules Rimet Trophy hurt had ended with a World Cup final appearance.

The Value of Public Appearance

The reaction to Garbar-Kitarovic’s cup final appearance shows that political leadership still gains hugely from physical presence at nation-gripping events.

Margaret Thatcher, May’s only predecessor as a U.K. female prime minister, also had little time for football. However, she was quick to be on the scene of major disasters like the Kegworth air crash in Leicestershire and Hillsborough football tragedy in Sheffield in 1989. May, in contrast, was criticized for failing to meet the families of victims of last year’s Grenfell Tower fire in London, in which 72 people died.

Prime minister Margaret Thatcher visits the wreckage of the Boeing 737 which crashed into an embankment in the background. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)

In matters that move nations, there is no substitute for leaders demonstrating that they share the emotions of those affected. It is a risky business, however, and behavior that is inauthentic appears fake and insensitive and is not in keeping with a leader’s general character and usual behavior may end up doing more harm than good.